Are you in a career you love, or in a job you are tolerating?

What's the difference? If you're working strictly to earn a 
paycheck to pay the bills, you have a job. If your days are 
filled with passion and delight for the work you do, you have 
a dream career.

So how is your career going? Is it filled with dreams or 
nightmares?

We all have responsibilities. Bills to pay and futures to save 
for.  Going to work is reality. So why not shoot for the stars? 
Why not have a goal to make a great salary while doing work you 
love?

Impossible? Guess what? It won't happen until you decide that it 
will happen. When you tackle new challenges in your career, the 
beginning is the hardest. Once you jump in, your goals take 
shape, and they begin to seem realer and easier to achieve.

Here is how some of my clients described their dream careers when 
they were at the beginning of their shift from job to career:

"My dream career would be focusing on the areas where I can find 
fulfillment and can make a difference in the lives of others. It 
has to be creative." Linda May

"My dream career would be working at something I'd do if no one 
paid me to do it." Dale Alvaraz

"It has to get me excited. So excited that I would rather work 
than watch TV or do something else. Another indicator is when I 
can wake up early without an alarm clock and I am looking forward 
to the day." Alex So


So How To Do Make The Shift From "Just A Job" To Your Dream 
Career? Follow These Four Steps Below:

1. Recognize That You Want More

Do you know in your heart that you want a career that gives you 
meaning, purpose, and satisfaction? Listen to your inner voice, 
because what it is saying to you will not go away until you act. 
When you get to a point in your career when you know it is not 
working anymore, it's important that you do something about it.


2. Get Ready Mentally To Have More

Write down what your dream career is. If you do not know, write 
down what it's not. When you know what you don't want, the flip 
side is what you do want. Look at this piece of paper everyday. 
Review it in the morning. Look at it during lunch. Go over your 
words before you go to sleep. This process will help your 
thoughts sink in and become a part of your subconscious.

What keeps many of my clients from saying "I can achieve my dream 
career" is fear. Fear is normal. There's always fear when we take 
on new goals. But ask yourself which fear is harder to be with: 
the fear of knowing that you did not give your career its best 
shot, or a fear of failing?


3. Get Into Action To Have More

Nothing happens until someone does something. And, if you want a 
dream career, you have to get moving. Act. One action leads to 
another, which leads to another. This is how goals are reached. 
Bit by bit. Piece by piece.

When you work on your dream career, a little bit each day, your 
wish will be granted. Consistency is key. Most of us do not 
believe that we have hours each day to work on our career, but 
the truth is we do.  How about working on your career 1/2 hour in 
the morning, 15 minutes at lunch, 1/2 hour before you leave the 
office at night, or an hour after dinner? Breaking your dream 
career into small achievable pieces will make a tremendous 
difference. You will be surprised and amazed at how much progress 
you will make.


4. Recognize That Anything Worthwhile Takes Time

All goals take time. And, the time they take to become real 
usually takes longer than we'd like. Know that this is part of 
the process.

Keep moving no matter what, even if you do not feel like. Trust 
that you are on the right path. Your dream career will happen, 
because you want it to happen. The effort you put in will be 
worth it, because the end result will be a career you can proud 
of.

So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it 
might as well be a life you love!  

Deborah Brown-Volkman is the President of Surpass Your Dreams, 
Inc. a successful career and mentor coaching company that has 
been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal 
fulfillment since 1998. We work with Senior Executives, Vice 
Presidents, and Managers who are out of work or overworked. 
Deborah is also the creator of the Career Escape Program(tm) and 
author of Coach Yourself To A New Career: A Book To Discover Your 
Ultimate Profession. Deborah Brown-Volkman can be reached at:
http://www.surpassyourdreams.com 
http://www.career-escape-program.com 
info@surpassyourdreams.com, or at (631) 874-2877.